The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1887-10-19
The CRIMSON SCARF.
How old did Won s,y9- asked the
comSnander-in-chief

Nineteen
And the man
A little older"
The commander-in-chief pulled his ci-
gar At thoughtful intervals The war was
by twenty-five years thing Of the past,
but As head of great commercial enter
prise military title stili clong to him
from out Of his war experience, and he
Aid not dislike il. for some Of his war
memories appeared TO be his most cher
ish.d mental treasures. 50 he cebated
with his cigar over the two Young people
,,b,,.e sentimental rasliness had brought
them into public notice, and a. he de-
l,at.d he was looking backward over the
diverse panorama Of tao decades Of hie,
through the rifted smoke clouds Of great
rebellion at little drama that seemed al
most dream. but winch 10 him was,
perhaps. the best remembered incident
ofall the five years fight. And when he
told il. half musingly, the listeners did
not wonder. The WAYS Of fate are very
diverse. and II sometimes happens 70 the
least imaginative in the maddening crowd
that a face which is looked into only for
a moment Is never forgotten in all the
length Of the years that follow. Perhaps
il was so with the oommander-in-chief-
Perhaps not In any event, nobody dar-
ed 10 ask.
@In the fall Of 1868, - he began, " ! was
stationed at Paint Rock, Ala. We were
drawing on the enemy for supplies for
aging. in fact. our crackers and hard
tack we got from Stevenson, but for fod-
der for our horses and anything to add
sumptuousness 10 the appearance Of the
irving pan We had to depend on the
country. For some weeks | had sent out
the wagon train 10 the east, the southeast
and down the valley Of the Paint Rock
creek. The only direction left for inves-
tiostion was the wesl. where, al a distance
Of twenty-one miles. was HUNTSVILLE, then
the capital Of northern Alabama, which,
up 10 the time Of the war, bad been
wealthy. aristocratie and fashionable
city. Well. one pleas ,ni morning ! sent
the wagon across the g-reek and followed
them with guard Of twenty men. 1t
was reported from time to time that the
country ahead Of n was iul Of guerillls,
but we saw no signs of them, and for two
months had no trouble whatever with
any foe.
After crossing the creek the wagons
took road which wonnd along the foot
Of spur at the Blue Ridge mountains,
which rose green. heavily wooded and
picturesque at our backs. We passed
several small clearings and plantations,
whose log houses we're filled with hot
blooded and hot tempered southern
women. whose evident desire 10 fiay us
with their finger nails rather inierfered
with the sweet spirit OF hospitality for
which the south Is famous. Alta distance
OF seven miles | halted the detachment
at a cool but sinister looking place in the
road, known 10 all the country round
about as the Gap"
The Gap was the entrance 10 "A pass
through one OF the outlying mountain
spurs. Ii was deep hollow, heavily
wooded. The dense grc with of towering
pines and fins grew close 10 the roadside.
The woody spaces were 80 filed with un
dergrowth and blocked with fallen trees
that as you peered into the dark recesses
of the forest on either side hostile ar
nv might have been sheltered there
without our being able 10 perceive but
ton. remember the looks Of the place,
because the first time ! saw II, il made
me rather uneasy, and the last time but
one that saw ii came near staying
there for good, As did. in fact, some other
poor fellows who were not so fortunate.
Well, after a rest We kept on, and
few miles further We came on planta
ton Of 100 acres, with large and COM
Portable looking residence near the road
side. The wagons had reached there
long before US. They We're being rapidly
filled from a row ofwell stored corn-cribs
at the back Of the house. ! had just got
ten off my horse near the door when two
girls came toward me and if were not
telling this story, gentlemen, would
honestly declare that they were the two
preitiest girls ever saw in my life.
They were both tail and slender,
with graceful and womanly figures. They
were dressed in dark blue calico. and
had no artificial aids to their fresh young
beauty Their faces were intelligent and
full Of resolution, ye, marked by that
shyness which belongs TO girls who are
well born and bred in comparative seclu-
sion The elder, Ellen, was dark eyed
and dark haired Addie was II, two
years younger than her sister, yellow
haired and blue eyed blonde. The ap-
pariation they presented astonished Us
think all the men took off their hats
instinctively. know | did And as NY
hat WAS a real Mexican sombrero, and
matched the long Mexican spurs that
jingled on my heels | was rather fond Of
keeping il on my head.
Ii was Ellen who spoke, the otner
staying little behind, Sir, she said,
in troubled voice, You look like gen
tleinan. O'ne of your men has taken our
guitar Ii is ali we have leit, and it is a
great consolation. Win yoa not be good
enough 10 have II returned
The guitar vas returned to her forth
with as quickly as the man could be
found who had it. She was profuse in
her thanks, and the light in the younger
sisters ewes at the salvation Of the instnI-
ment indicated now highly it was val
ned. The corn and supplies they did
net appear 10 gricve over particularly. a.
l prevented any destruction Of the cribs
or unnecessary damage to the properly
Consequently was very Hospitality re-
ceiVed in the house T re family consist
ed of an old gentleman, named Sunder-
land, his wife and three daughters. sun
deriand was a well-to-do planter, though
too old to take arms. He was doctor
10y profession and a Methodist preacher
10y choice. His family circle WIS. in its
refinement and the beauty Of the girls,
something charming. particularly TO a
horse soldier vino for some years had
known only the roughness. of the camp.
The eldest dauchter ,ras ,narri,.S ber